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Glass Animals - ZABA

FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014|

Posted by: Emily Geiger

Glass Animals have teased audiences for a few years with singles and remixes and have finally given listeners a chance to hear what a full-length album from the British four-piece sounds like — and what Glass Animals has produced for ZABA are songs infused with animal noises, oozing with synthetic overlays and rumbling with African-inspired drumbeats, giving us a trip through a jungle that has been entirely gilded with a sleek and shiny layer of gold. But once settled into the exotic voyage, we find ourselves utterly confused by David Bayley's frustratingly enigmatic lyrics. With verses like "I lift your chin, you grin as you/As you come through and I'm running around your head/With a bone all night," Bayley seems unwilling to fully reveal the meaning of his inscrutable stories.

But you know what, you shouldn't worry over the convoluted lyrics from the cerebral wordsmith, because Bayley usually sings them inaudibly, allowing you to focus on the intricate production. And when you do this, you are easily overwhelmed by the whimsical, scintillating songs that exude R&B vibes under the clean-cut electronica. In "Gooey," a song that grooves just as smoothly as its title slips off the tongue, Bayley clearly sings of his "Naked fool/Fresh out of an icky gooey womb/A woozy womb/Dope so good, a silky smooth perfume." And because Bayley enunciates more here than he does on most of the album, it feels like he really wants us to know what he's saying, and for good reason. These lyrics perfectly encapsulate what it feels like to listen to ZABA — you feel the gooey, sticky weight of each undulating song as it washes over you and when you've finished, you're left intoxicated by the perfumed beats that have seeped into you.

You can get your copy of ZABA now on iTunes, and check out the video for "Gooey" below.